


to be alone with you

by thanksgodforgravity



Category: Sanditon (TV 2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen
Genre: Also I wanted to write about Sidney’s childhood, F/M, just an excuse to write some marital fluff and smut, what is this idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-02-01 07:02:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21429358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanksgodforgravity/pseuds/thanksgodforgravity
Summary: Charlotte Parker has some news to share.
Relationships: Charlotte Heywood/Sidney Parker
Comments: 13
Kudos: 173





	to be alone with you

**Author's Note:**

> hello! if you're reading this and you've been following my sense8 stories, I'm sorry. I swear I intend to finish them.  
This is my very first Sanditon fanfic and the first time I write something set in the 19th century so I apologize in advance if it's inaccurate! 
> 
> A very special thanks to the lovely Zoe (breefraser on Tumblr) for helping and correcting this for me!

The minute realization had dawned, Charlotte Parker she started thinking of the best way to share the happy news with her husband. She knew she wanted it to be special, perhaps after supper while they rested on the sofa in front of the fireplace or maybe when they laid in each other’s arms after making love. It was so important to her that she planned it all out before the week was over and was ready to share her happiness with her husband on Friday night.

Smiling, Charlotte lit the last candle on the dining table. Sidney was traveling back to London after spending a few days in Oxford for business and she was more than eager to welcome him; she had made dinner herself, something frowned upon by high society’s ladies, styled her hair just how he liked them and was wearing her favorite lilac dress.

She glanced around the room once again, satisfied with the results of her plan and for her husband to come through the door.

When he finally arrived she had to stop herself from running to him and instead waited patiently in the dining room, subtly smoothing her curls and the creases on her dress.

“My beautiful Charlotte,” Sidney said, pausing for a few seconds to admire her beauty with a lopsided grin on his face. His eyes were so full of love and affection that she couldn’t help but reach out to him and throw her arms around her neck.

“Oh how I have missed you, husband,” she murmured softly, soaking in the way his body felt and the comforting scent of his skin.

Sidney did the same; closed his eyes, buried is nose in her hair and tightened his hold on her to keep her close, as if realizing only then just how much he had missed her.

Eventually, she lifted her head to meet his gaze and with no hesitation closed the distance between them.

The kiss started as a small peck but then, after Sidney touched her tongue with his, it grew to become a dazzling enough to leave them breathless.

The moment his hands left her arms to caress her hips she knew they had to stop before it went too far.

“I’ve made our supper,” Charlotte said teasingly, biting his lower lip before kissing him lightly again.

“Have you? Then it would be a shame to let it grow cold.”  
It would have been and she knew that well but it was difficult to care when his body was pressed against her in such a way. It had been six days after all, such a long time for them.  
Still she managed to gather all her inner strength to stop herself, taking his hand to lead him towards the dining table.

Sidney moved her chair so she could sit before doing so himself. He didn’t need to glance at the dish in front of him to know what she had cooked for them, the smell of boiled vegetables had immediately brought back memories to his mind.  
  
Vivid images of dirty hands and even dirtier clothes were interrupted by Charlotte’s soft voice.  
  
“Mary gave me the recipe, she told me it was your favorite soup during your childhood.”

Sidney chuckled softly as he remembered all the times his mother had to threaten him to lock him inside the dining room until he had finished his plate.  
  
“I dreaded the smell of this soup, it meant I had to go back inside the house and clean myself. I would have rather stayed playing in the dirt with Arthur all afternoon. But-”  
  
“My apologies!” Charlotte said with a mortified sigh, “I thought it would be a pleasant surprise for you and -”

He interrupted her this time and reached to take her hand in his, “But t might be the last memory I have of my mother.” 

Amelia Parker had died when Sidney was only nine-years-old, leaving a painful wound in his soul that he had never quite told anyone about. The limited information that Charlotte knew about her was thanks to Mary, who had been lucky enough to meet her mother-in-law when she was only sixteen.

_“She was incredibly beautiful, with the kindest brown eyes and a voice like honey. So charming it was impossible not to like her instantly,” Mary told her._

Charlotte had wanted to know more, her curiosity always getting the best of her, but Mary had finished the conversation abruptly by telling her that all of her children loved her greatly, and that was all she needed to know.

“I hope I brought back good memories...” Charlotte said tentatively as she squeezed his hand, carefully studying the movements of his face. But as usual, her husband managed to hide his own feelings behind a mask before she could read his mind.

“What is that you wish to know Mrs. Parker?” He knew her too well and she couldn’t help but blush at her well-known noisiness.  
“Nothing that you do not wish to share with me.” 

Sidney let out a sigh, shook his head pensively and took a sip of his glass of wine. 

“Her name was Amelia, as you well know, and she married my father Richard at only eight-and-ten. She was quite young and while theirs were not a matrimony born out of love, they grew fond of each other with time.” His emotionless voice and the fact that he refused to meet her eyes told Charlotte he had doubts about his parents’ happiness.

“Two years laterTom was born.”  
  
“Who is the one that resembles her the most?”

“Me,” he answered shortly, followed by a small humorless laugh. “Or at least, that’s what everyone says. Unfortunately, I have only vague memories of her so I can not say if such statements are true.”

“Did you have a good relationship with her?”

“Yes. It was quite difficult not to, she was loving and charismatic.”

“And with your father?” Charlotte blurted out without truly considering how such a question might affect him. If the Parker children rarely spoke about their mother, their father was mentioned even less often.

Sidney’s back straightened reflexively and his mouth turned upward into a bitter smile. 

“He was much like Tom, a dreamer. With the difference that his greed took him far away from home more times that we could count. By the time our mother died he was nothing but a stranger.”

Charlotte touched his cheek tenderly, her eyes glistening with tears as she detected the hurt in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” she said but was soon comforted by Sidney, who could not stand to see her hurting for him.

“Don’t be, my dear. I hold no grudge against him, with time I understood that he only had the family’s wellbeing in mind.” 

“Surely your distance must have affected you.”  
“Yes, but it is useless to think about the past and someone else's mistake, is it not?”   
He distanced himself from her and picked up the spoon next to the plate, “I can only hope that I will not repeat it.”

“I’m sure you will not, Sidney.”

He was too immersed in his own thoughts to notice the blushing of her cheeks or the way she gently laid a hand over her belly.

“Forgive me, I ruined this beautiful evening with such inopportune conversation,” he said.  
  
“On the contrary, I am most pleased that you felt comfortable enough to share your memories with me.”

He smiled at her, a genuine smile this time, so full of tenderness her heartbeat increased because of it.

“You are my dearest confidant, Mrs. Parker, how could I not?”

Their dinner continued comfortably as they talked about trivial things and laughed about their acquaintances’ antics, simply enjoying each other’s company once again.

Charlotte was the first one to excuse herself to their bedchamber, giving him an invitingly smile as she left the room.

While she patiently waited for him, she stood in front of the vanity and undressed,until she was left only with her dressing gown and met her reflection in the mirror.Ever since she had realized she was expecting a child she studied her figure every chance she got, already feeling an unexplainable connection with their unborn baby.

Sidney interrupted her moment of solitude as he entered the room and stared at her in silence with an unreadable expression on his face. 

“What is the matter?” she asked him, meeting his eyes inthe mirror.  
  
“You are so unbelievably beautiful.” His answer was so spontaneous and full of awe she instinctively looked down, feeling shy even if she should have been used to such compliments by now.

Sidney came upbehind her and hugged her waist, lowering his chin to rest it on her shoulder.

“I could say the same thing about you, Mr. Parker.” She teased him and caressed his cheek with her fingertips. They stared at their reflections, silently admiring each other for what felt like hours, until Sidney started kissing her, his handswandering overher body.

Charlotte closed her eyes, letting herself enjoy her husband’s attention; his lips found the spot on her neck that made her shiver, sucking on it gently before grazing it with his tongue repeatedly and grinned smugly when she let out a soft moan.

“There is something I need to tell you,” she murmured, her brain trying to focus while her body betrayed her and pressed itself against his front. 

Sidney hummed against her skin and moved his hands to caress her breasts through the fabric of her clothing. 

“Is it incredibly urgent?”

Charlotte could feel his erection pressing against her, the warmth of his hands so dangerously close to her skin.She was burning with desire from head to toe and felt her self-control slipping away from her with every little sound he made.

However, she decided to give in the moment she caught him looking at her in the mirror; his eyes were dark with lust as he drank in the shape of her body and thought of the ways he could and would ravish her. She was sure that if she concentrated enough, she could actually hear his indecent thoughts.

Turning around in his arms, Charlotte answered his question with a passionate kiss, her mouth immediately opening to his, ready to show him exactly how much she had missed him.

She hastily removed his shirt, never breaking the kiss, and ran her hands across his chest, her urgency making him smirk against her lips.

“I appreciate your eagerness greatly, Mrs. Parker,” he murmured before biting her lower lip.  
She replied by pressing herself even closer to him and let her gown fall to the floor. 

  
Soon, Charlotte’s mind focussed only on the way her husband kissed his way down her body and the warmth of his skin on hers.

————

The soothing sound of the rain mixed with the cracking from the fireplace created the perfect atmosphere as they lay in each other’s arms, satisfied and spent.

Charlotte listened to his heart beating under her cheek, her head moving in time with every breath he took while his fingers ran through her wild curls.

“I shall insist you take me with you next time you have to travel,” she said.

He chuckled and squeezed her hips affectionately. “Sounds like a reasonable idea.” He tooka deep breath before adding, “I’m afraid I haven’t been completely sincere with you.”

She raised her head to meet his eyes, suddenly very curious about what he was about to confess.

“I spent only two days in Oxford, then I traveled to Sanditon.”  
  
Charlotte opened her mouth to ask explanations but it was not needed.

“I had to make sure construction was going as planned.”  
  
“What are you talking about?” Her eyes narrowed and her face moved further away from him.

Sidney caressed her cheek with his thumb, encouraging her to come closer, and murmured softly, “I brought us a house, just for ourselves.”

It took a few moments for Charlotte to realize what he was saying. There had been talks about finally purchasing a house of their own, not to be shared with Tom or any other siblings, but she had reassured him there was no urgency in that. Clearly, she thought, something must have changed his mind.

As if he could read her thoughts, he explained the reason behind his actions.

“You deserve a house to call your own,” he said firmly, “and our children do as well. A home. Our home.”

His eyes brightenedas he mentioned the children he was sure they would have and the paternal affection was already so clear in his voice she instantly felt her throat tightening with emotion.

“It’s closer to the sea, just outside town, I thought you would appreciate it.” Sidney stopped his description when he saw the tears in her eyes.  
He shook his head mortified and reached to take her hand. “Forgive me, I did not imagine it would upset you so, I meant well.” 

A single tear fell from Charlotte’s eyes; the pure devotion on his face had filled her heart with love for him which, she suspected, felt even more powerful now that she was carrying his child.  
  
“Charlotte,” he murmured, waiting for her to say something.

“I’m with child.”  
  
He blinked a few times before taking in her news, and when he did,he smiled brighter than she had ever seen before.

“Are you certain?”

Charlotte nodded and in matter of seconds found herself held tightly in his arms.

His joy was so overwhelming that his entire body seemed to shake with it and she relished it greatly.

“You have made me a very happy man, my love.”  
  
Sidney took her face in his hands, momentarily pressing their noses together, and tried his best to control his trembling voice but the glistening of his eyes betrayed him.

He had never looked more beautiful in her eyes and the urge to kiss him was too powerful to ignore, so she did.

It was a frantic and passionate kiss; they both needed to communicate their love and devotion in the best way possible using their tongues and their wandering hands. In no time, Charlotte pushed him on his back and ran her fingers through the fine hair on his chest.

Sidney whispered her name, feeling the tip of her tongue on his neck as his own hands moved down her body to caress and, finally, squeeze her bottom.

That simple action seemed to light a fire in her, she moaned against his mouth and pressed her body closer to his, instinctively grinding on his growing erection.

Sidney tried to take control over the situation, too impatient, but she let him know what her plans were by biting on his lower lip. 

The room filled with the sounds of their lips meeting and their panting, quickly replaced by deep sighs as Charlotte sank down on his length at once.

They closed their eyes at the same time, savouring every second and the sheer pleasure they felt. It had been almost a year since their wedding and they had enjoyed their marriage bed more times than they cared to count but it always felt like the first. The way they fit together so perfectly, skin to skin, made them think they were truly meant to be together, for nothing felt as heavenly as when they were joined.

Charlotte threw her head back when he squeezed her breasts, his hands scorching hot on her skin, and increased her pace, trying to reach her own orgasm as well as his.

“Oh yes.” Her soft whisper and her face with her blushed cheeks and parted lips made her look like the most beautiful creature Sidney had ever seen; he was transfixed. The simple image of her carefree movements on top of him were almost enough for him to reach his climax.

Sidney’s animalistic groan resounded in the room when she rotated her hips, smiling ever so innocently at him, and prompted him to lay her on her back.

The moment he was on top of her he entered her swiftly, opening her legs to hit just the right spot inside of her. His thrusts were harder than usual, his own lust blinding him, but she did not mind; she enjoyed the way his muscles strained and the glistening of the sweat on his skin. He reminded her one of these Greek statues she had seen at Sanditon House, so beautiful and powerful.

It did not take long for them to finally reach their peak; with five more thrusts, Charlotte’s nails on his buttocks and Sidney’s lips kissing her neck, they came together with a scream.

Sidney’s head laid on her bosom, careful not to crush her, while she ran her fingers through his hair and down his shoulders.  
  
“I did not believe we could ever have such bliss.” Charlotte whispered in the darkness of their room.

He didn’t need nor want to ask why she thought such thing, the wound of their past still fresh for both of them, so he simply raised his head to give her nose a tender kiss.

“I shall try my best to keep you as happy as you are now. I love you, my dear Charlotte. And you,” he slid down her body to softly press his lips on her stomach, “my child.”

He layso he could gather her in his arms and closed his eyes, enjoying the silence and the warmth of her body.

“I love you.” Charlotte said before falling asleep, her cheek on his chest and hand holding his.Only then did he let himself close his eyes, images of their future as a family wandering through his mind.


End file.
